LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Former Dartmouth all-conference standout Lucas Richardson has joined the Kentucky men’s soccer staff as its volunteer assistant coach for the 2013 season, it was announced by UK head coach Johan Cedergren on Monday.

Richardson, a native of Englewood, Colo., joins the UK staff after a great career on the pitch for the Big Green that saw him help lead the club to two Ivy League Championships. Following his playing career, Richardson was an assistant coach for Dartmouth during the 2010 season, joining Cedergren, then the associate head coach, on the staff.

“I am thrilled to add Lucas to the coaching staff,” Cedergren said. “Having had the pleasure of working with Lucas on the same staff at Dartmouth and knowing about his playing career, I knew he would be a tremendous asset to our program. His experience, work ethic and personality will be a key in helping us build the program moving forward.”

Richardson was a member of the Dartmouth team from 2003-06, winning Ivy League Championships in 2004 and 2005, with the team advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2005. A defender, Richardson earned All-Ivy League honors as a sophomore and junior and was named third-team All-New England as a junior. As a senior, Richardson served as a team captain.

“I am excited to get to work with Johan and the entire Kentucky men’s soccer program,” Richardson said. “I was fortunate to work alongside him for a year at Dartmouth, and the opportunity to join him at a place like Kentucky was too good to pass up.”

He has coaching experience at the youth level, having coached club and high school teams in Zambia, New Hampshire and Colorado. Since graduating in 2007, Lucas has worked in youth development at the non-profit and high school level. He spent two years Grassroot Soccer, and a year as the program director for America SCORES in Denver. While working for Grassroot Soccer, Lucas spent a year in Lusaka, Zambia helping to support the program’s HIV prevention and youth development efforts there. After returning to Dartmouth for a season as an assistant men’s soccer coach, Lucas spent two years teaching high school social studies and coaching soccer in Denver, Colorado.

Richardson earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth in 2007 with a concentration in political theory. During his playing career, Richardson earned All-Ivy honors as a sophomore in 2004, with the team naming him the most valuable player. He started all 18 games as a junior, including scoring the game-winning goal vs. Drake and Yale. Before a season-ending injury as a senior, started each of the 10 games to open the year, with Dartmouth owning four shutouts in that span.

UK opens its regular season vs. Wright State on Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET at the UK Soccer Complex.